Lead Sinovac vaccine scientist in Indonesia dies; sources suspect 'death due to COVID'

The lead scientist on China’s Sinovac vaccine trials in Indonesia died on Wednesday. It is suspected that Novilia Sjafri Bachtiar had contracted the Coronavirus, and died due to COVID-related complications, as she was buried as per COVID-19 protocols. This puts the efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine which has been widely used in the fourth-most populous nation, under the scanner. 

State Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir posted a message on Instagram mourning the "huge loss" at BioFarma, the company which makes the Sinovac vaccine in Indonesia. "She was lead scientist and head of dozens of clinical trials done by BioFarma, including Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials in cooperation with Sinovac, which has been produced and is now being administered to tens of millions of people in Indonesia in a bid to fight COVID-19" he stated. "Her departure is a huge loss to the BioFarma, and the whole of Indonesia," he added. 

Novilia Sjafri Bachtiar is not the lone case of death post-vaccination. According to independent data group Lapor Covid-19, 131 healthcare workers, mostly vaccinated with the Sinovac shot, have died since June, including 50 in July.

The efficacy of the vaccine is being questioned at a time when Indonesia is reporting a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases reported daily. On Wednesday, the country reported 1,000 coronavirus deaths in a day for the first time on Wednesday and a record 34,379 infections.

Sinovac vaccine-All you need to know

Sinovac Biotech, a China-based pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Beijing, produces a COVID-19 vaccine, which goes by the name CoronaVac. As per reports, this two-dose vaccine is recommended for individuals aged 18 years and above. It has an efficacy rate of 50.4% for preventing symptomatic infection, according to data from a Brazilian trial, and an effectiveness of 67%, according to a real-world study in Chile. It was validated for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the WHO Trusted Source on June 1. Moreover, the vaccine is approved for use in 26 countries.

(Credit-twitter/@andreasharsono/ap)